Losing Focus
by Sylvia1
Summary: While on a mission for the Order, Remus finds himself suddenly pulled into a difficult situation.  Some implied Snupin & minor swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Losing Focus

Details: Starring: Remus – implied Snupin.

Time Frame: Post-OotP

Summary: While on a mission for the Order, Remus finds himself suddenly pulled into a difficult situation.

Author's Note: I've been working on this since before DH. If you've read the book, the irony won't escape you. Some implied Snupin.

Part 1 of 3:

The heavy wooden door opened with a protesting creak as a dozen or so weary faces turned to look at him. It was an unusually empty pub for a Saturday night, but it was a small town after all. He spotted a nice abandoned corner booth and slid across the leather, his feet squeaking against the wet floor. In fact he was soaked; the famed British rains were certainly taking their toll on the countryside, and even though March was not a normally remarkable month in terms of rainfall, this year the records seemed to be making an exception. He slumped appreciatively into his seat and mumbled the first alcoholic beverage that came to mind when the server approached.

"Ale. Lots of it."

The heavy woman nodded slowly as she scribbled on the tiny pad of paper. Remus took off his hat and grabbed a bunch of napkins in a feeble attempt to dry himself. He desperately wanted to remove his trench coat, but knew that doing so would make his wand visible. Years of experience had taught him that wasn't the best of ideas in a suspicious, backwoods, muggle town like this one. Taking a napkin in each hand, he tilted his head forward to scrub his dripping hair vigorously, putting them aside once he was satisfied that his hair was no longer sending trails of water down his neck. Next he took a handful of napkins and closing his eyes, allowed the course things to absorb the moisture from nooks and crannies around his eyelids. It was good to feel a bit less like a walking puddle.

As he was wiping down the back of his neck, he took a good look around at the people sitting about the tavern. There were about fifteen people total, most of whom were crowded around the barstools, their black and brown coats touting darker tones from the torrential storms. A sparse few were sitting at the round, rickety wooden tables like himself, and upon seeing the plates of food they were munching, his stomach made a loud growl of jealousy. Remus sighed. He'd been sorely tempted to order a nice big meal instead of the watered-down house whiskey to fend off his growing appetite, but the price was too stiff for his meager monetary earnings. In the end he'd decided the warm beverage was preferred over the more-than-likely cold food anyway.

Though he'd been given numerous Order tasks over the years and was used to working odd wizarding jobs on the side, Remus had grown accustomed to a small, even sometimes meager paycheck. In fact many in the Order could agree that their earnings were on average far better than his. Even Mundungus was able to create a decent living off of his swindling and thievery. Yet regardless of his funds, Remus was often kept in high esteem within the Order. In fact he was often called in to do delicate work, often involving negotiations, and especially when other potentially dangerous lycanthropes were concerned.

Throughout his years of experience in mingling with the shadows and putting his "silver tongue" as Aleister referred to it to good use, Remus was always keen to keep a careful eye on his environment . It always amazed him how wizards viewed muggles as being so foolish and simple. Talking to Aleister, you'd think they were a mass of defenseless cattle awaiting Voldemort's slaughterhouse. Even Albus tended to assume that muggles were a naïve lot. Perhaps they were naïve in ways of Wizarding politics, and yes, they could quite easily be the victim of a stray killing curse, but Remus had found that they were quite apt at taking care of themselves. Ignorance of spells and wands didn't make them ignorant of lore and superstition. Unfortunately, many muggles didn't need a class on Defense Against the Dark Arts to figure out that a werewolf was among them. It was strange but it was easy to tell just by looking at them that they didn't trust him, and if something strange happened in town, they'd be more than willing to blame him for the whole mess. In fact, the more distant you lived from the technologically advanced major cities, the more sensitive the muggles were to the magical world.

After many a hard day at work, Arthur had a tendency to regale Remus about his difficulties with Muggle Relations, and the amusingly quaint inventions they make – like electricity. He always acted as though they were confused, lost, defenseless things – and oh how creative they are given their meager tools – and my what a discovery for a muggle to make. Listening to him talk made Remus wonder if he was referring to muggles or five-year olds.

Sometimes they would discuss matters long into the night until the first rays of pink and purple began to creep up from the horizon. Arthur happy to be able to speak freely about his irks at work and Remus simply glad for the company. Every once in a while Severus would join in – if "joining in" was the proper phrase for anything Severus did. He'd snort at Arthur's complaints and once outright laughed at the man's comment of how he didn't know what muggles would do without the Ministry's aid. Remus would just shake his head. Sometimes it was disturbingly obvious that Severus was half-blood if not downright muggle-born. He'd never let on to Severus of course, but every once in a while when he showed his true colors, Remus couldn't help but smile. There were times when even a slippery serpent like Severus simply couldn't hide very well in the tall grass.

The large woman brought back an equally large mug of drink, and Remus drank it gratefully feeling the heat trickle down his throat and warming his insides on the way down, gratefully quieting his stomach for the moment. The chill began to reluctantly leave his limbs and he sighed in appreciation. It was then that he noticed the woman was still standing there watching him.

"Um, is something wrong?"

"No, nothin's wrong, Sweetie. That's from your mate over at the bar. On 'im."

Remus only then noticed the large roasted pork leg that lay steaming before him. He blinked in confusion as he breathed in the aroma of the pink meat. Seeming to realize the deception, his stomach gave voice to a howl of painful hunger. He looked back up to the woman, "But who…?" But she was already making her way to another table. He squinted, scanning the stools at the bar more slowly this time but all of them looked the same - drunk, drenched men talking amongst themselves in gleaming, dripping overcoats. Then one of the men at the far end of the bar turned and smiled as he caught sight of him.

Remus didn't recognize him, but a single glance at his amber eyes told him all he needed to know. As the dark figure stood and made his way around the round wooden tables to reach him, Remus wondered to himself how he could have ever missed him. After all, if there was one thing Remus was good at, it was spotting another werewolf.

"Evening," the man smirked, large hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Mind if I have a seat?"

"Not at all," Remus forced a smile. Meeting a fellow werewolf in a foreign town could have a number of different meanings. Perhaps the two of them were kindred travelers, merely passing through. If that was it, then Remus had little cause to worry. However, if he wasn't…

The tall man sat down opposite him, blue eyes looking him up and down as he got comfortable. He must've only recently come in because he looked worse than Remus did, black hair forced into pointed clumps that framed his pale face. His instincts on edge, Remus wondered if perhaps he had been unwittingly followed. Could this werewolf be working for Greyback? The stranger propped his elbows on the table, resting his face against his fists.

"Thank you for the meal," Remus murmured uncertainly.

He smiled, "Oh don't mention it. Anything to help out one of our own, eh?"

Remus still hadn't touched the food, despite his stomach's accusatory cries. For all of his friend's incessant nagging, Aleister's severe distrust of strangers was a worthy trait. But it was more than simple distrust, the man sitting opposite him was far too eager. His slightly pointed teeth glinted in the dim light of the tavern.

The stranger's blue eyes narrowed "Think of it as a farewell gift."

They locked eyes for a moment. So he was trying to muscle Remus out of town. It wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with territorial wolf kin, but it was never handled in public locations like this. The unusual situation made him very nervous. Although it was normal for a werewolf to be protective of his home – two werewolves were far more apt for discovery than as a loner. Usually there was a fair amount of modesty and respect involved in a territorial dispute for the humans that lived nearby. After all weren't humans the only true threat to a werewolf?

Remus smiled at the man, more warmly this time, "Of course. I wasn't expecting to stay more than a night."

"Well that's a shame," the dark-haired man growled, leaning back in his chair but keeping his hands on the table, giving him the posture of a cat about to pounce, "because you'll be leaving tonight."

The hair stood up on the back of Remus' neck as he blinked in confusion. This wasn't just a territorial issue. This man was protecting something… or someone. There was obviously more going on here than he'd first thought, this stranger's urgency was proof enough of that. Remus knew that he had much more important errands left to resolve, and was more than ready to do as this opponent wished. He wanted to attract as little attention as possible on this outing.

"Then I suppose I'd best be off then," Remus began to stand but the man shot out his hand to grasp Remus' arm tightly. Remus sucked in a breath, his opposite hand unconsciously reaching beneath the wet layers of his trench coat to take a tight grip on his wand. But the opponent smiled wide, showing off his teeth all the more brazenly.

"You mustn't… waste the fine meal I bought for you! Damn shame to waste a good-natured gift – I hope the food here isn't too rancid and poor for your tastes…" the man's eyes were hard as he raised his voice a bit at the last sentenced and slowly released his grip. By this point Remus was entirely on edge and was acutely aware of the growing pairs of eyes that were locked onto the two of them. A few muggles at the bar had even turned around in their chairs when the stranger had raised his voice. Behind them the bartender, bottle in one hand and still empty glass in the other watched the couple untrustingly. He looked as though he was debating whether or not to bash the two of them with the heavy glass bottle in his hand to prevent a long night of cleaning up after a brawl. With great reluctance and fighting back his instinctual urge to fight against this dangerous werewolf Remus sat back down, eying the man and the plate with growing suspicion as his whiny stomach growled in annoyance. He spoke in a whisper hoping to deter the curiosity of the others.

"Alright, whoever-you-are…" Remus paused, hoping his opponent would divulge a name, a position, some kind of membership to a pack, something to give him some sort of ground. But his strange dinner partner remained silent, his face betraying his pleasure at the confusion that must have been evident on Remus' own. "What exactly do you want from me? You say you want me to leave but obviously you want something from me first. If your only intention is to play games with me all night, I have far more important things to do."

"Well, first of all, I never said I wanted you to leave."

Remus cocked an eyebrow at the man, "Well why the hell did you follow me here then?"

The stranger blinked, laughing nervously and pushed a strand of his sopping wet black hair out of his face. "Because I wanted to know more about you. It's not every day I find others like me."

Judging from the man's behavior for merely the past ten minutes, Remus determined this to be a complete lie.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2:

"You don't really expect me to believe that do you?" Remus crossed his arms and gave the man a glare that would've made Severus squirm. The stranger squared his jaw and leaned forward over the table, his voice barely a whisper as his heavy gaze followed Remus closely.

"You're a bloody wizard, aren't you?"

Remus blinked, of all the snide comments he'd expected, this was probably the last. "Excuse me?"

"Don't play with me you bastard!" The stranger banged his fist onto the old table, causing the plate of food to tilt back and forth dangerously before once again finding its balance. Remus was once more aware of just how quiet the room had become at this outburst; he could practically feel the sets of eyes burning into them, and the creaks of the chairs as people moved around to stare at them. "I know what you are!" Although his tone of voice wasn't necessarily loud, the room had chosen just that moment to go nearly silent.

Remus had to calm this man down – he had to take care of this quickly before this grew into an uncontrollable situation. This was what he did, wasn't it? This was his specialty in the Order – keeping potentially dangerous people cool and calm. So why was his mind suddenly a complete blank? He tried to think back to other situations, other times when he might have had a similar situation. Then the briefest of memories suddenly flew through his mind like a wild snitch.

"_Honestly, Severus, I swear it was an accident. Sirius would never have wanted to-"_

"_Like hell he wouldn't! So help me, Remus, if you don't get away from me this very instant I will not hesitate to use force!"_

"_Severus, please just put away the wand. Can't you see I'm not going to hurt you?"_

"_Get back!"_

Severus had been distraught, angry, and simply wanted to strike out at the next person that happened to look at him the wrong way. At the time, Remus had made a gamble, but surprisingly enough his tactic had worked. He just had to hope that it would work again.

He started laughing.

The stranger sitting across from him sat still for a few moments, watching him with his head cocked to the side. Remus' laughter started getting louder and longer as he doubled over onto the table top clutching his side with one hand and wiping the tears from his eyes with the other. "Oh my god, man that's a good one!"

"What are you laughing at?"

"Me – a wizard!" Remus gasped for breaths quickly before breaking out into more raucous laughter.

"What is so damn funny?!"

The heavy waitress came over again, two of the larger men from the bar were standing closely behind her. "Is everythin' alright over 'ere?" She glared from one to the other suspiciously, arms crossed tightly in front of her.

"Oh yes!" Remus sighed, reaching into his pockets and pulling out some muggle money and dropping it onto the table. "We were just about to leave, weren't we friend?"

The stranger's mouth was wide as his face was contorted with a mixture of rage and confusion – he had no idea how to react to this. Perfect. The only sounds he was able to produce were incoherent cries of outrage as Remus quickly took the man by the arm and started to bodily drag him to the door. He whispered to the waitress as he passed, "Please pardon my friend, one drink and he thinks he owns the place!"

As Remus dragged his fellow werewolf to the door, he was fairly certain the woman hadn't believed him. She glared at the two of them as they passed out the doors, her brow creased in suspicion. Remus called back as casually as he could, "Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets home safe," before dragging the man out of the bar and into the pouring rain. He pulled him around to the side of the building away from the bright windows of the bar. The rain had lessened slightly since Remus had been outside, but the puddles in the mud around the bar still came up to his ankles and the rain still poured steadily from above.

The stranger pulled himself free of Remus' grip and spun around quickly – his teeth bared and his fists balled. "How dare you!"

Remus didn't give the man a chance to strike. He grabbed the front of his shirt with one hand and covered his mouth with the other as he shoved him into the wall of the tavern. The man made a strange grunting sound as the wind was knocked out of his chest. "Listen to me!" Remus hissed. The man pulled out an arm and tried to claw at him. Remus put his forearm against the man's throat, still covering his mouth tightly with his other hand. "Quit struggling and listen to me! Are you such a fool that you want to be put in Azkaban for the rest of your days?" The man's chest heaved for a few moments as he stopped struggling, his eyes watching Remus intently.

"Now, if I let you go, will you promise to be still and listen to me? I know you need something from me, and if it is within my power I will try to help you. But you need to calm down first. Angering a room of drunken humans is not the best way to stay hidden! Not to mention keep your damn skin!"

The stranger studied him for a long moment, his eyes wide and untrusting. The rain fell steadily all around them, hitting the wooden walls of the building and the metal gutters above. A low roll of thunder swept through the sky as water trickled and pooled in the soggy mud in which they stood. Slowly the man nodded. Remus stepped back slowly, releasing the man who promptly doubled over coughing and clutching his throat.

"There are others," his voice was strained, as he doubled over in another coughing fit. Remus' heartbeat skipped a beat at this. Of course there were others. Why hadn't he thought of it before? But if there was a pack out here, why was this man so determined to protect them? Surely a pack would have shown themselves to him upon his first entering the town and given him a fair warning. He'd never known of an individual being sent.

"How many are there?"

"Only two…" the stranger stood then, keeping his distance but studying Remus all the more closely this time. "You know of the prison then? The prison where they've sent so many others like us?"

"You mean Azkaban? They send more than just werewolves there, my friend." Remus put out a hand to help steady the man. Only three of them… By their very nature werewolves were pack hunters, they were drawn to large packs, and it was very unusual for only three to be living together. That was unless you were both a werewolf and a wizard like Remus – then you were shunned by packs simply because you were accepted by the very group that dominated the werewolves' existence. What had kept this man from joining one of the many groups that lived around England? Surely he appeared fit and strong enough to join a pack. Were the others diseased? Perhaps they were too old to be accepted by a pack, but if that were the case why was this one so obviously fearful of Remus? "How did you find out about Azkaban?"

The man's eyes turned downward at this question, and Remus realized that this was perhaps the first sign of weakness from the stranger that he'd experienced. "A friend of mine. Captured by those bastard wizards. He never came back, but I don't need them to tell me where he's gone. I'm not a fool, I can read those bloody wizard papers!"

"I see…" Remus looked away. This entire situation was beginning to smell of very bad news. Surely the man had obtained a copy of the Daily Prophet sometime within the last year, because details of Azkaban seemed to be at the forefront of every article. That would explain why he knew about Azkaban, but that wouldn't explain what happened to his friend that caused him so much fear. If he had indeed been taken to Azkaban as this man feared, then that person must have indeed done something terrible. At the moment Remus' instincts were telling him that he needed to find a way out of this situation and fast.

"You are a wizard then," the stranger smiled at him almost thankfully. "I knew it, I knew when you first came into town what you were!" He studied Remus for a moment, as though inwardly congratulating himself on figuring out the mystery. "Why did you pretend not to be? Why did you embarrass me like that?"

Remus sighed, "Look I just saved you from being kicked out by a mass of drunks. Surely my method of leaving wasn't that terrible." He turned around to head back to the road, pulling his coat around him tighter to fend off the rain and the wind.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," Remus growled, refusing to turn around to him again. He'd wasted enough time with this idiot. If he couldn't find shelter here for the night then he'd need to keep searching. He had no intention to get involved in this mess, not when he had so many other important matters to attend to.

"Wait a second! I never said you could go!" He heard the man's footsteps splashing in the water as he ran up beside him.  
"As far as I can remember, I never asked."

"But I need your help!"

"Well you have a sorry way of asking for it," Remus snapped, quickening his pace.

"But I don't know what to do with her!"

Remus sighed. He was well known in the Order for his undying patience regardless of the situation. But here, Remus found his patience finally wearing thin. He turned around to the man, staring at him with the light of the tavern silhouetting him in the darkness. His long black hair hung down in clumps around his pale face, his features for the moment were unrecognizable. Memory once again held sway over Remus and for a moment he was at a different time once again.

"_Leave the country? At a time like this?"_

"_I have to Severus, I can't stay here anymore."_

"_So you're just going to leave? Just like that? You're one damn cowardly Gryffindor, you know that?"_

"_I just, I have a bad feeling about all of this. I mean honestly, just because your idiot friends don't seem to trust you very much doesn't mean you can just leave me here with them."_

"_You don't know a goddamn thing about this, Severus! Don't even pretend that you understand what I'm going through!"_

It had always stayed with him, the look in his eyes when he finally left. The utter shock and desolation that had fallen like a heavy load onto Severus' usually emotionless expression. He would never forgive Remus for it anymore than Remus would ever forgive himself for leaving.

"Please, I need your help. I have no one else to turn to here and you're the only werewolf I've seen in the last two years. You know more about the laws than I do, if you would only see her…"

Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Remus cursed his weakness for people in need. He cursed Albus for sending him on this mission. He cursed Sirius for being dead and not here with him. And most of all he cursed Severus because it was his damn fault that he gave in so easily to his emotions.

"Well lead the way then, stranger. Bloody hell…. I can't believe I'm doing this. I don't even know your name."

The man's pale face gleamed for a moment before he turned and began walking in long strides, forcing Remus to quicken his pace to keep up. "It's Milo."

Remus smirked. "Of course it is. We really need to work on your social skills, Milo. Lesson One: don't ask people to leave when you need their help!"

Milo ignored him but only walked in silence as they headed off down a dirt path into the woods. "And yours?"

"My what?"

"What's your name then?" His eyes were barely discernable in the dark forest.

"Remus."

It was Milo's turn to smirk. "'Course it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Well this is the final section to the story: Part 3 and then the Epilogue. Reviews and comments are always welcome! They keep me inspired to write more often!

Hope you enjoy!

Part 3:

The small wooden cabin reminded Remus of Hagrid's shed at Hogwarts. Except this one looked slightly dilapidated, tilting like a teetering drunkard to the side. It didn't look like it had any electricity, but it did have a small garden in the front with hearty stalks of corn coming up in the spring rain. The immediate problem Remus saw was that it didn't look like it could safely hold a werewolf once a month – in fact, knowing that there were three that lived here he was amazed that it hadn't been shattered the first night they'd transformed. Of course, Remus knew that this meant that they probably didn't board themselves up – one of the first requirements of the Ministry. They'd probably killed a number of people in the countryside, which would easily have them put in Azkaban if the Ministry knew of their existence. Even worse, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures could possibly have them eliminated.

"Here we are," Milo grunted, picking his way carefully down the muddy path and toward the skewed front door. He fooled with the lock a moment before shouldering it open completely. He stumbled on the creaky wooden floor before regaining his balance. "Come on in, Remus." He motioned into the house as he shrugged off his wet coat, tossing it onto the floor inside.

Remus stepped in cautiously. It was a single level building, but the entry room was very dark despite some light coming in from the room ahead of them. Regardless of Milo's casual attitude, Remus was not able to lower his guard. The shadowy entrance hall only made him edgy. Perhaps there were more than just two other werewolves he should be worried about. This group of "three" could really be working for Voldemort, waiting for unsuspecting Order member to seek shelter at the onslaught of the storm. He clutched his wand in one hand and pulled away when Milo reached to help him out of his coat.

"Well, you can drip dry if you really want but she's probably got a fire going in the next room. Stay here a moment and I'll go get her. She'll want to know you're here." Milo walked away toward the lit room and Remus heard their hushed voices speaking but their words were inaudible.

Remus looked around but saw no pictures on the wall. The old yellowed wallpaper was peeling away at the corners. The smell of mildew hung heavy in the air and he was tempted to cover his nose against the pungent odor. He moved to the doorway of the next room in an attempt to find where Milo had gone. In the center of what must have been the main living room, Remus saw a large fire emanating from a stone hearth. The hearth looked to be the sturdiest structure in the entire building and the flames within painted the room in a warm, inviting glow despite the meager furnishings. A small counter and old gray icebox sat in the far dark corner on the same wall as the hearth and across from that was a dark corridor that possibly led to the sleeping quarters. Directly in front of him sat a few mismatched armchairs that appeared to have been snatched from various discarded sets. But the part of the room that caught most of his attention was a ragged circular rug that sat at the foot of the hearth; atop of which sat a small child playing with a tattered stuffed bear. She was babbling in a high-pitched voice and as she heard Remus enter the room she looked up, her large eyes curious but distrustful. Even at such a young age she seemed to be aware of how much turmoil the world contained.

"Oh my god…" Remus whispered as he stared at her in disbelief. The girl's eyes glistened in the firelight with the same amber glow that he and Milo shared.

"We had her two years ago," Milo whispered as he emerged from the shadowy bedroom corridors. "We were… rather hoping that she wouldn't be like us…"

"We?" Remus' eyes narrowed. "Then there is another?"

A woman emerged from behind Milo and picked up the girl quite quickly, moving back to stand behind him as the girl cried in frustration. "Quit talking about her like that, Milo," the woman spat. "She can't help it anymore than we can." Her eyes fixed then on Remus as she patted the girls back comfortingly, quieting the child's cries. "And I don't know what good he can do about it."

Milo sighed in frustration, "Well maybe he'll at least give us some idea what we're up against, if you'd give him the time to speak! Remus? What do you say? You seem to know more about these things than we do – Azkaban he told me about earlier, Shauna. He knew about the place!"

"So do you though you're no bloody wizard! I swear, Milo, don't we have enough problems without you bringing crazies into the house too?" The woman's blonde hair was wild and disheveled in the firelight. It toppled down her face in waves and in the firelight she more resembled a lioness than a wolf. Her face was shadowed as she stood in Milo's shadow but her eyes glittered amber. The situation had just become incredibly awkward.

Remus sighed, this wasn't going to be easy. It never was easy being the bearer of bad news, especially when lives were in danger. Yet somehow this seemed to be Remus' area of expertise. He crossed his arms in front of himself, setting his features as he might explain a complicated topic to his first-years. "You two do understand that we're not supposed to… it's not allowed…children, I mean."

"What do you mean, it's not allowed," Shauna hissed at him. "According to who exactly?"

"Well, the Ministry. Surely you've heard of them." Remus glanced briefly at Milo for support, but the man's face was stony as he looked into the firelight. "I'm not entirely certain which of you was bitten first but whoever it was should have been contacted. You should've been given the rules –"

"Well we weren't," Milo spoke quickly. "No one told us a damned thing!"

Remus frowned. "I find that a little difficult to believe. Usually they're very strict about informing…"

"Well what if they forgot? What can they do about it then?" Shauna's eyes were wide as she clutched her child tightly against her shoulder, her fingers splayed out as if she feared the child would disappear if she let go. "Surely we can't be punished for such a thing, I mean – we're barely surviving as it is…" her voice dropped to a whisper as she stepped closer to Remus, the tears in her eyes illuminated by the firelight. "She's only a little girl!"

"Well that's not the way they'll see it, I'm sorry to say." Remus sighed, "Werewolves are treated the same regardless of their age. And if they are too young…" Remus swallowed. How was he dragged into these awkward situations? "Your best bet is to keep doing what you've been doing, stay low and try to keep from being noticed." He focused his gaze on Milo in particular. "One thing you two need to do though is to find a place to keep yourselves contained when you change. This house is hardly the place to keep two grown werewolves. And even a creature as young as she could pose quite a threat!"

"Don't call her that!" Shauna was hysterical. The tears were streaming down her face in rivulets as the child began her cries once more. The woman put a hand up to the girl's mouth in a vain attempt to quiet the sobs. Milo tried to put an arm about her shoulders, but the woman moaned and turned back to the darkened corridor. Her footsteps creaked down the wooden floor as the child's cries continued.

The two men stood apart from each other. A silence fell over the room as the firelight flickered off their faces. The smell of the burning pine was faint as the wood popped and crackled.

"Well what do you suggest then?" Milo was desperate. "Tie ourselves up like animals? You said yourself this house wouldn't hold us. And I don't know of a single place in this damned city where we could hide."

Remus sighed, raking a hand through his wet hair as he dropped into one of the old armchairs. "Yes, I know." He knew too well to be honest. The feeling that he was a danger to the outside world was indeed quite familiar, but also the knowledge of being an unwilling carrier of a horrid disease. He felt for these people, this sad family of lycanthropes clinging on the edges of society, innocent killers at the mercy of their inhuman nature. The young girl that was not even aware she was an abomination in the eyes of the Ministry. "I suppose there is some chance…"

"What do you mean?" The tone of Milo's voice betrayed his uncertainty.

"Well it would be dangerous, there's no doubt about that. But at least you would have a place to stay, a place where you would be protected. At least until enough time had passed that the girl was old enough."

Milo couldn't hold back the grateful smile that had taken hold of him. "So you know of such a place? Well why the hell didn't you say so, Remus?"

"Now hold on, it wouldn't be as simple as that. There would be a price."

Milo's smile disappeared, the firelight magnifying the fear evident in his eyes once more, the desperation that always seemed to linger below the surface. "Price? What do you mean, a price?"

"Well, honestly Milo, you would have to abide by pack rules! You couldn't stay without fulfilling some type of requirement."

Milo snarled at Remus, taking a step back. "And what kind of requirement would that be?"

Remus let out a nervous breath. "You would have to fight alongside one of the most powerful wizards in the world." His voice was much steadier than he actually felt, and he was grateful for the unintentional strength it gave him. "Albus Dumbledore."

Milo blinked, "Never heard of him."

Remus snorted in disbelief, "You've got to be joking…"

"No, I'm not bloody joking. You expect me to keep up to date with all of these ridiculous wizards? So what would I have to do? Kill people or something?"

Remus shook his head, "No, no, you wouldn't be required to kill, only to fight alongside him if he needed your aid. You would, however, be risking your life on a regular basis, Milo." Remus watched him carefully, "and I'm not entirely certain if you would want to do that."

Milo was silent, his amber eyes dark and solemn. "Yes, I could do that. I would do it for them."

Remus smiled, standing up to pat the disheveled man on the back. "I'm glad to hear it, Milo. Now all that's left is to make the necessary arrangements. You all will need to stay here until I'm able to -"

A loud pop suddenly reverberated through he thin walls of the decrepit building, followed quickly by the desperate shrieks of a woman.

"SHAUNA!" Milo was across the room in an instant, bounding across the moldy furniture at an astonishing speed. Remus had barely had the time to draw his wand.

"Milo, don't be a fool!" Remus hissed, but the man was gone, disappearing into the shadows of the corridor, the war-cry of his lover raging throughout the building. Remus' eyes bore into the dark corridor, his heart thumping loudly in his ears as he waited. It was only a matter of moments before he heard the cries of the two abruptly end and the thumping sounds of their bodies hitting the floor.

His mind was reeling. Were Shauna and Milo still alive? Was the girl yet unharmed? The building was suddenly unnaturally quiet, and Remus cursed the limited abilities of his heightened senses. He tried to calm his mind by trying to discern who exactly had found them out. Voldemort? He would certainly have some interest in a family of desperate werewolves, and it did seem to have his flair for surprise but if it was truly his Death Eaters that had made the assault, then Remus wouldn't have been left standing. They were simply too good for that. No, this had the unmistakable signature of the Ministry scribbled across it with their good intentions and sloppy practice. The good news was that Shauna and Milo were probably alive, as was their child. Unfortunately, it would also mean that if he was seen here the Ministry would know that not only had a Hogwarts professor been involved with illegal werewolf activities, but also that he condoned the breeding of lycanthropes. The Gryffindor in him wanted to rush them, to throw all caution to the wind and save the poor werewolf family. But such rash action would make his face known. No, he'd done all that he could to help them, he just had to hope that they would merely be sent to Azkaban…

Directly behind him, Remus suddenly heard the wood creak. A footstep - someone else was in the room with him. He spun around with his wand outstretched to face the assailant.

"Remus?" It was a woman's voice, and he knew it. A petite darkly clad woman stood before him, lingering in the shadows. Her face wasn't completely visible but a lock of her pink hair curled around her chin.

"Tonks? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Remus lowered his wand carefully, his eyes squinting to try to see through the shadow that fell across her face.

"Remus!" she hissed, her gaze moving down the dark hallway that now was behind him. "You crazy--!" She paused as they heard footsteps nearing them from the back rooms. "You can't be seen here. You've got to get out of here! Now!" She pushed him aside in the direction of the entrance as though she thought she could push him out the door in time.

A dozen questions sat on the edge of his tongue, but he couldn't form the words. Merely able to nod, Remus apparated.

Part 4:

Epilogue:

The delicate mugs looked too nice to be used in such a dark place. The golden trim and carefully etched purple and blue flowers gracing the sides were simply too quaint and endearing for the dreary, depressing atmosphere of Grimmauld Place. Molly must have brought them over the last time she came. Remus inhaled the steam from the raspberry tea deeply, allowing the small ceramic cup to warm his hands. For some reason, being in Sirius' kitchen reminded him of the tiny living room in Milo and Shauna's home. The silhouette of the little girl playing on the floor before the comforting flames of the fireplace, Milo's fury as he ran toward Shauna's screams; the images came unbidden to his mind. Shauna's eyes though, that was what would always haunt him the most. Her fiery amber eyes surrounded by her tangled, scraggly mane as she clutched her child to her chest. He'd tried his best to push the thoughts of the doomed family from his mind, for it had been several months before he'd finally been able to make his way back to London. He knew that there was nothing he could have done to help them, but his worry and curiosity drove him.

Remus opened his eyes again, unaware that he'd even closed them. Across from him on the other side of the small kitchen counter, Albus was pouring his own glass; the tiny steam tendrils playfully dodging his long bushy beard. Albus closed his eyes briefly as he breathed in the scent, and Remus had to wonder if he was reminded of anything long since past that he'd been unable to control. If he had any regrets that came unbidden to his mind like so many spider webs.

"So what happened to them, Albus?"

Albus sighed, his brilliant blue eyes hazing over with memory. "Well, the two adults were put in Azkaban of course. There really wasn't much we could do for them, unfortunately. It seems they'd killed at least a dozen individuals among the three of them." He took a sip of his tea.

Remus' throat felt very dry despite his drink. "I was afraid of that. But I must admit I was surprised to see Nymphadora there. Is she doing transient work with the Werewolf Capture Unit or something?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort really." Albus smiled half-heartedly. "It seems they had been contacted by Fenrir not too long ago. We have no proof they joined him of course, but…"

Remus' gaze was fixed to the still water of his teacup. "Oh… well that makes sense then… why she was there I mean."

"Yes," Albus became quiet. Remus could tell he wanted to say more, but sometimes even the most experienced wizards are at a loss for words.

Remus swallowed, his brow furrowing. He knew what he still had to ask but for some reason his throat didn't want to cooperate. He sipped some more of his tea as he tried again, "The girl? Did she survive?"

Albus' face was hard as he kept his gaze lowered. He sighed and frowned deeply. "I'm so sorry, my dear boy."

Remus was quiet for a while, his hand had a mind of its own as it continuously stirred the tea in front of him. Shauna's eyes still bore into the backs of his eyelids whenever he tried to shut them just as her voice still rang in his ears almost like a banshee cry, _She's only a little girl!_

He pushed his tea aside and pushed his eyes against the palms of his hands. He didn't know how much longer he was going to have the stomach for this job. Albus merely watched him, a silent mourner in the quiet dimly lit kitchen. Outside the clear night sky was welcoming the coming of fall as a thousand stars were winking their way across the London night. Somewhere in the deep recesses of Azkaban, a couple laments the loss of their only child over and over again in a dementor's embrace.

-Fin-


End file.
